Riot grrl appeared as a musical movement in the late 80's in Olympia, WA. Bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile were formed and a lot of their fans made posters, zines, and poetry. It was fueled by the lack of respect they were getting from the boy punk rock bands at the time, and evolved into a more general radical feminist movement. The popular media seized upon it mostly because they did some shocking things, like writing "slut" and the like on their bodies to raise awareness of the issues they were interested in. A lot of people started using the term "grrl" to describe any young girl at odds with the modern female stereotypes.
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